Originally Posted by
anacapamalibu
If you made an international transfer in Japan and never entered the country,
would China consider you entered from Vietnam?
You'd probably get credit for arriving from Vietnam since there's no stamp in the passport though as moondog points out, they could consider it a technical violation. If there's no stopover in Japan on the way to SFO, then I don't think they'd argue the point.
It might be worthwhile to call the consulate, in SFO, they answer the phone between 1 and 3pm, 415-674-2940. I've called them on occasion and they've been helpful.